Sweet dreams

There are certain transitions in a child's life that are pretty emotional for parents.  For example, when my son started kindergarten, I was reduced to tears.  I couldn't believe my baby was big enough to be leaving me each day to go to school.

Today was not as big of a milestone as going to school, yet it still left me coping with growing pains.  Weeks ago, my son mentioned that his feet sometimes fell off the end of his bed.  Since moving into his own bed, he's slept on the same toddler mattress.  He was ready for a new, longer bed.

After discussing what we wanted to do, we took him to the store to look at a variety of bed styles.  Since he will be starting elementary school in April, we thought buying him a loft bed with a desk underneath was a good idea.  Our son agreed and was super eager to check out his options.

It didn't take him long at all to pick out his new bed.  He's very decisive most of the time, which is really helpful in situations like these.

We had to wait just over a week to have the bed delivered.  From the moment he woke up this morning, he was driving me crazy asking again and again when they would arrive with his bed.  I found myself distracting him with making and throwing paper airplanes outside, testing variables like adding a paperclip to the tip and bending wingtips in different directions.  In all honesty, it probably helped distract me too.

The delivery men finally arrived shortly after noon.  They quickly got to work, laying down drop cloths up the stairs and into my son's room.  Then then hauled all the boxes upstairs, removing their shoes each time the entered the house.

I had to distract my son once again to give them room to build the new bed, desk, and shelves.

As soon as they were done, we raced up to the room to check everything out.  The loft bed is huge in his room.  It will take some getting used to.

He was overjoyed and climbed right up.  We worked together to make his bed for the very first time.  I was really impressed with the comforter cover that had little straps with snaps in each corner to hold the comforter in place.

Later in the afternoon we had friends over for a playdate.  The mom and I were discussing how loft beds were still such a new concept in Japan, as many families still sleep on futons which are laid directly on the floor.  Her two boys didn't know what to make of the bed.  They thought it was a play structure and not a place to sleep.

Our futons when we stayed in Atami.

It seems like such a simple thing to buy a new bed.  But for me, it is another milestone in my son's life that is both exciting and a touch sad.  But he is all starry eyed for his new bedroom set.  It brings nothing but joy to him.